November 30, 2009

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Without the public option, the health care bill "is worthless and should be defeated," Howard Dean told Yale University students Monday.

The Yale Daily News posted a short item on its website (with a longer story expected Tuesday) reporting the harsh assessment from the former DNC chair and Vermont governor:

"Congress isn’t going to pass a bill that reforms health care," Howard Dean '71 said. "What we want is to have the kinds of choices so that we can reform health care."

Dean, former Head of the Democratic National Committee and a 2004 Democratic candidate for president, addressed 50 undergraduates at a Pierson College Master's Tea Monday afternoon. His talk on health care comes on the heels of the release of his new book, "Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health Care Reform," as well as the start of debate about the health care bill on the Senate floor. According to Dean, the most important component of the health care bill is the public option.

"If we don’t have a choice, this bill is worthless and should be defeated," the former Governor of Vermont said.

The comments aren't entirely unexpected from Dean, who has been one of the most outspoken proponents of the public option, but they aren't helpful for Senate Democratic leaders. They serve as a reminder of the difficulty ahead for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if he is forced to retreat much further from the opt-out public option in the Senate bill to appease centrists.

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Just how does anyone expect the states, who are struggling now as it is, to pay the million and in some cases billions of the extra Medicaid cost required in both bills. These bills will break the 39 states that will be required to pony up the extra funds.

Of course YAWWWWW is against a bill that doesn't include a public option. He is one of those elitist that thinks he knows what is best for all those dumb "hicks" from the South, uneducated "cowboys" from Big Sky Country and Southwest, and Midwest "farmhands".After all, without the public option, how will Socialism get entrenched ? Especially now that global warming has proven to be a farce.

The health care reform Bill the Democrats are proposing will not save lives, it will cost lives. 1), Medicare is being cut by 500 billion and when the Democrats say that amount of cuts won't drastically reduce health care for the elderly they are lying. 2), the Health Preventative Task force is given great power in the bill to decide who get what treatments if any based on "cost effectiveness" This is the same Task Force that decided that mammograms for women under 50 were not to be provided. 3), the government is full of waste fraud and corruption so most of the money will not end up being used to take care of patients, the bulk of the money will be used to line the pockets of big government bureaucrats, big unions and big corporations. 4), every government program is operating in the red including social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the post office, Amtrack, so when the money runs out (and the middle class can no longer slave away working to pay for all of these unsustainable government run programs), guess what the government will do to solve the problem. You guessed they drastically cut back on the health care utopia they promised everyone and leave everyone out in the cold. In the meantime the elites in DC and all their good buddies will still be riding high on our hard earned money that they had nothing to do with earning which is just plain evil.

Yes, without the public option we don't need a bill.
All those Democrats who oppose the public option go home. We don't want you. We must pass a bill with the public option. Do not listen to the CEOs of insurance companies, and vote for the public option. The CEOs want the status quo to continue making money. They make money with high insurance premiums and when they deny claims. We don't need those CEOs in the system. Let's remove the CEOs from the health care system and pass a bill with the public option.

Yes, without the public option we don't need a bill.
All those Democrats who oppose the public option go home. We don't want you. We must pass a bill with the public option. Do not listen to the CEOs of insurance companies, and vote for the public option. The CEOs want the status quo to continue making money. They make money with high insurance premiums and when they deny claims. We don't need those CEOs in the system. Let's remove the CEOs from the health care system and pass a bill with the public option.

First there is no reason to inject name calling into this discussion.
Second, will all of you who are against a public option PLEASE provide your solution to sky-rocketing costs and PLEASE tell us how you will insure the 45+ million Americans with NO health insurance. I have personally experienced periods of time with out coverage and I'm now 63 years old. I work hard for my living but how can I afford 500 to 600 dollars a month for a policy with a very high deductible and limited coverage? When I get sick, I will still be bankrupt so then who will be stuck with the bill?
What would all you nay-sayers have us do? How do you get YOUR insurance? I'm all ears waiting for your answer......

Why does everyone think it is communist for Americans to be able to afford health care that is not sold by corporations that operate like a cartel. If you think only lazy people are in favor of health care reform wait until you lose your job. Money cannot the issue we spent waaaaaaaay more on the failed and racist drug war, not to mention Iraq and Afghanistan ... wars to protect from non-existant threats or threats that do not need a full scale military response. Why can we find money to begin and continue wars that have been proven to be ill advised but any attempts to institute legislation that would immediately and directly help millions of AMERICANS everyone cries socialism. By th way Socialism in and of itself implies nothing more than government whose aim is to serve the people. What has passed for socialism to this point is not actually socialism. I would think that everyone would want a government that serves the people. I think that regional rivalry needs to be set aside. The majority of the people in this country prefers a strong public option anyone who doesn't see that has never left the South that coincidentially has some of the highest rates of uninsured people in the nation. Why is everyone so eager to trust our hgealth to organizations whose primary motive and legal obligation is to provide profit to their shareholders at any cost? The government if nothing else is ideally accountable to a vigilant and engaged citizenry. Profiting from the sickness of others is wrong but fro now I would settle for the option to have my health care managed by a social service organization instead of a private concern .

Bruce, nobody is denied emergency care in this country and that is a federal law. The federal Government foots that bill but under the new healthcare bill a majority of the cost is passed on to the states.States will get killed under this plan.

People we have public option on the books now. The program is called Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid is one in the same. This new health insurance bill will cut these two programs by $500 billion dollars. So why does Congress even consider creating a duplicate plan? Now that is called government waste. Idiots in Washington!!

The fact remains that big insurance by refusing care to patients and reimbursement to doctors over typos has ticked everyone off.
They have a monopoly over the whole process and a well financed lobby team (including Lieberman's wife) and representatives on both sides of the isle.
A friend of mine recently laid off just he and his spouse is paying $2,500.00 dollars a month for his COBRA.
Health insurance costs more than his mortgage. Anyone taking up the insurance industry's cause doesn't know what they are talking about.
If you think the insurance companies are going to voluntarily lower their cost while having a monopoly over the process – you are being disingenuous
…Over 60% of all US bankruptcies are attributable to medical problems. Most victims are middle class, well educated and have health insurance - (The American Journal of Medicine)
The insurance companies and their representatives in Congress would love to perpetuate a business model that is crippling our overall economy – a bunch of great Americans aren’t they?
90% of the wealth concentrated in 1% of the population is no way to run a country but a heck of a way to establish a royalty ruling class. Yacht sales can not sustain 350 million people.
I'm for the public option, competition and a level playing field or break up the big insurers like we did AT&T.
A slavish focus on profit margin might be good for the individual or a business, but it is one helluva lousy way to "govern" a Country.
The GOP being a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporate America has a hard time with that concept.
Paul Burke
Author-Journey Home

To Vic:
Vic there are a number of places the answers to your questions can be found. The Republicans have several plans that solve these problems. Heritage Foundation has a large number of analysis of these problems.

It seems to me that a statement like that means that the only reason he feels we should reform medicine is to get a "public option" and without this their work on reforming healthcare is pointless. The question I have to ask is, if this is their only goal why say you are trying to reform healthcare instead of just saying you want government to control this aspect of business? It clarifies to me that this is only a money/power grab on the part of those in power. I am disappointed with the failure to truely reform for those who wished for a government to protect them instead of reaching once again into their pockets.

You dummies are still describing it as a choice. Your so called government option is no option at all. Think about it. The first year of this Chronic Health Plan of the Clueless One in the White House goes into being, you will of course be able to keep your present Health Plan intact. However, after the year is up, the government will force these providers out of business because they would be unable to compete with the government run plan and guess what Sherlock? there goes your government option down the toilet bowl. Now, one would be subjected to take the government's plan or be penalize for not doing so up to 2,500 dollars depending on some circumstances. This folks is not a choice but government shoving it down our throats . Howard wants everyone to believe that this plan is the greatest thing since Al Gore took credit for the discovery of the internet. How asinine is that. Out with these cronies in both the House and Senate come 2010. Liars and thieves.

Howard Dean wouldn't know socialism if it bit him on the nose.
While on, Meet the Press this weekend, Mr. Dean referred to the Veterans Administration as a socialist health care system.
The VA is a line item in the US budget. It is a benefit promised to the Men and Women of on armed services as one of several pittances to fight for ones country.
Sons and Daughters of America… Join the military; defend your country’s national interest with your life. Your country could not possible pay you and your family enough for the sacrifices you will endure.
Don’t worry, your country will take stand by You.
We have a medical system, called the VA, that will support You when you return home maimed, scared, and tormented.
What a benefit… Taken care of when you sacrifice for your country.

I love how the majority of Republicans support spending 100s of billions/maybe trillions (after you add the costs of the wounded) of dollars on wars year after year (killing 500,000 Iraqis in the process) because 3,000 Americans were killed 8 years ago tragically in New York, while on the other hand, it's perfectly OK w/these same "hawks" (who never fight in the wars because they are deferred due to their rich parents, like Dick Cheney who deferred 4 or 5 times) that 45,000 Americans die every year because they don't have health care. Oh yeah, if any of you Republicans can read, the CBO actually shows that this health bill reduces the debt...

Without a public option, there is no competition. Without competition, there is no meaningful change. Without meaningful change, states and families will continue to go bankrupt. All so that massive quantities of resources lifted from people's wallets and paychecks, supposedly for healthcare, can be redirected to provide obscene salaries for CEOs, tens of millions to lobbyists to maintain the status quo, tens of millions to staff phone banks of "reviewers" to meet their quotas for denials of claims regardless of the facts, and all this before one red cent goes to provide care for anyone. Hey, we can all feel good about that!